Global Media News

A Look Into Colombia's Ugly Telenovela That Beautifies Stereotypes.

    The popular Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea (translated to "I Am Betty the Ugly") has crushed a big telenovela stereotype.

    Classic telenovelas in South America are filled with pounds of make-up, beautiful and well-known actresses, and over dramatic episodes. This telenovela's main character is a girl with big glasses, braces, and untamed hair. No other telenovela is like this one, and everyone is hooked on it.

    Yo Soy Betty La Fea stars Ana Maria Orozco as Beatriz "Betty" Pinzó Solano, the sweet, shy, intelligent and unattractive main character, who falls in love with her boss Armando while working at the prestigious fashion company EcoModa. Although she never wanted a career in fashion, she couldn't find a job anywhere else due to her appearance. So she put a different picture on her resume and got the job. At the end of the series, she then gets a makeover, ditching the glasses and braces, making her much more attractive. This is from the article "Ugly is the New Beautiful" at jerriblank.com.

    By the end of the show's two year run and having 340 episodes, Yo Soy Betty La Fea was Columbia's most popular telenovela, having 3 million viewers a night. Countries around the world wanted their own Betty. This included India's Betty named Jassi, and her show "There's No One Like Jassi". Other countries included the Netherlands, Russia and the United States. Even though their storylines weren't the same, they had the same "ugly duckling" theme in mind. This was from an article by Matthew Fogel of The New York Times.

    This quote is from the original Betty the Ugly, Miss Ana Orozco, about how the show affects people of Colombia, from the article The Phenomenom of Yo Soy Betty La Fea at zonalatina.com:

"In Colombia, a country plagued by infighting country, this telenovela is an escape from reality in a nation overwhelmed... It is a parallel world to everything else that happens in the country. I think this is a way for people to forget reality, while some laughed for half an hour everyday".

Image from user Feamoda of DeviantART.

How big of a role does Social Media play in Columbia and it's politics?

    According to Country Meters.com as of 2015 Colombia has a staggering population of 49,547,871 and of that population over 22 million have access to the internet and Facebook. Internet usage has increased over the past several years. A survey done by Internet World Stats showed that in 2011 about 53.4% but over time internet usage have increased by 9.5 % by 2013.  Social Media plays a major role in the Colombian government and what it does. 

    Colombia's Press status is partly free but that doesn't mean that the government is constantly watching what it citizens are posting. Even heads of states are under a watchful eye when it comes to social media. In recent news Colombia's former President Alvaro Uribe  was under media scrutiny after he embarrassingly retweeted a pornographic picture of a nude young woman standing in front of a man. The mishap took place on March 20th when Uribe, the now-senator retweeted a link to a video from an account called @ChicasLindasVip. The tweet was immediately deleted and the conservative Uribe continued tweeting on political matters. 

    The picture was reported to be malware that seemed to get into the Senator's tweet but the issue was resolved quickly and didn't damage his reputation. Malware applications can send messages automatically from infected computers or mobile devices. Social media is an important factor and it sometimes can make or break a person's political career. 

Global Media News Webcast #12: May 2, 2103

Media News from Brazil and South America!

Global Media News for Thursday, May 2, 2013

Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media news from around the world.  GMN is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury. 

This week on Global Media News:   "Media News from Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela"

• Argentine Media Show Down:  Kirchner vs. Clarin
• Google in Argentina
• Social Media in Brazil:  Is Brazil the Social Media Capitol of the World?
• Youth Marketing in Brazil:  Beer Flavored Ice Cream?
• Colombia or Columbia:  A Campaign to Tell the Difference.
• President Maduro vs. Globo TV: Venezuelan Media Smackdown!
• Racism on Peruvian TV:  Is 'Negro Mama' Still on the Air?

This is our last webcast of the season!   See you in September!

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